UFC Fight Night 81 Averages Over 2.2 Million Viewers

FOX Sports has officially announced the ratings for UFC Fight Night 81: Dillashaw vs. Cruz. The event averaged 2.288 million viewers and 1.410 million in Adults 18-49. The main card was the second most-watched UFC event in FS1 history behind UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver from January 2015, which averaged 2.751 million viewers.

In addition, the event was the most-watched show on ad-supported cable television on January 17 from 8PM ET to 1AM ET in both viewership and the A18-49 demo. The show peaked with a viewership of 2.464 million viewers for the main event in the 10:45 PM ET to 11:00 PM ET quarter-hour.

The prelims for the fight card also pulled in big ratings. The FS1 preliminary card averaged 1.767 million viewers and 1.025 million in the A18-49 demo from 8:00 PM ET to 10:00 PM ET. This makes the preliminary portion the most-watched non-PPV preliminary card iN FS1 history in both metrics.

The UFC Fight Night Pre-Fight Show for Dillashaw vs. Cruz also posted 312,000 viewers. The fight card was held at the TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts on January 17. Former champion Dominick Cruz was victorious in the main event, reclaiming the bantamweight title he never formally lost while he was champion in 2011.